Designers of amusement games such as pinball games strive to constantly provide innovations to continue to attract interest of the public in playing the games. The intent is to both attract new players and to retain the interest of present players. In pinball games, new and different playfields incorporating various features and corresponding artwork have been developed for attracting and retaining players.
Generally speaking, pinball games utilize a playfield in a generally horizontally disposed cabinet. The playfield is usually tilted or inclined at a slight angle from the horizontal to encourage return of the ball to one end of the playfield, where the skilled player may use flippers to attempt to propel the ball back into a playing area of the playfield. Usually, at least two flippers are provided, and each is controlled by means of a corresponding one of a pair of flipper buttons mounted to upper side portions of the cabinet near a player position located at the end of the cabinet at which the player stands.
Other types of control device such as joysticks or four-way switches have seldom heretofore been utilized in connection with pinball games. Such control devices are more often associated with video games which are generally played either as arcade games, or as home games using dedicated game playing devices coupled to ordinary television sets, or computer video games which are often played using a conventional computer keyboard, or a joystick or other specialized control device which is operatively coupled with the computer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,342,049 (Wichinsky et al.) discloses a gaming machine in which the player propels a ball toward one or more targets. This gaming machine combines the features of a rotating reel slot machine with a pinball feature, the latter being activated when the player achieves a losing combination on the spinning reel slot machine. This allows the player a second chance to win if he can manipulate the ball into a position that will allow a further spin of the reels of the slot machine. This gaming machine includes an inclined surface over which the ball is propelled. A ball propelling device is controlled by the player by means of one or more push-buttons, or in one embodiment disclosed in this patent, by a joystick-like device which initially aims the ball propelling device and which is provided with an axially extending push-button button for firing the ball into the inclined playing surface. However, this "joystick" manipulates the ball shooter only to the right and to the left and is not operative as a "four way" device as in many video games. Moreover, the "joystick" is used only to mechanically aim and fire the ball shooter, in similar fashion to the plunger of a more conventional type of pinball machine, the only difference being the ability to control the direction in which the ball is initially propelled, rather than propelling the ball up a fixed lane as is the case with most conventional pinball machines.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,356,142 (Borg et al.) shows a pinball machine with a moveable ball transfer assembly. In this machine, a mechanism is provided which can retrieve the ball, move relative to the playfield and deposit the ball at different locations on the playfield. The disclosed embodiment of this device resembles an overhead crane or boom type of device. In one embodiment, this game is provided with a joystick by which the player can manipulate the ball transfer device or move the ball transfer device relative to the playfield.
The inventor is not aware of any pinball games which have provided any features using a four-way switch or joystick to any greater extent than the limited uses described in the two above-referenced patents. In the Borg et al. patent, conventional flipper switches are still utilized to control flippers in the pinball game in the fashion usually associated with pinball games. Thus, the flipper switches and the joystick are separate elements in the amusement game described in the Borg et al. patent. The Wichinsky et al. patent described above does not use flippers, but instead relies exclusively on the ball shooter and upon return of the ball to the ball shooter from the inclined playing field surface. Control features of the Wichinsky et al. patent control when the ball shooter is operative or inoperative, thus controlling the amount of play either by imposing a time limit or a limit upon the number of times the player may use the ball shooter to propel the ball into the playfield area.